Perhaps you have seen images of a fat monk in the dining hall in Buddhist
temples. Maitreya is that monk. Maybe this Bodhisattva liked to eat good things
and got fat that way. He also liked to laugh, but his laugh was not a coarse
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Rather, he always had a big smile on his face. He enjoyed playing
with children, and so the children were all fond of him in turn. He was always
surrounded by them. After Shakyamuni Buddha retires as the teaching host of this
world, Maitreya Bodhisattva will take over the position.

Shakyamuni Buddha is known as the Red-Yang Buddha. When Maitreya Bodhisattva
becomes a Buddha, he will be the White-Yang Buddha. This means that when Maitreya Bodhisattva comes to the world as a Buddha, people's blood will be
white, not red. People are red-blooded now because of the Red-Yang Buddha.

When
will Maitreya Bodhisattva come into the world? It sounds like a long time when
you describe it, but it is not actually so long, because from a Bodhisattva's
point of view it is but the blink of an eye. How long a time will it be? At
present, people's average lifespan is about sixty years. Every hundred years
people's lifespan decreases one year and their average height decreases one
inch. When these have decreased to the point that people's lifespan is around
thirty years, there will be a pestilence. People will die very quickly from the
disease, even to the point that they will be dead an hour after they contract
it. One may call for a doctor, but the doctor will die along with the rest.
Fifty percent of the entire population will succumb to the disease. When the
lifespan of the remaining fifty percent reaches twenty-five years, there will be
another calamity.

Why must these people die?
Because by that time, people's minds will be thoroughly decadent. There will be
too many bad people, so heaven and earth will have to eliminate these
incorrigibles. They will be unacceptable and will have to be traded in for
better ones. In the first plague, then, fifty percent of the people will die.
When the average life-span has declined to twenty-five years, there will be a
devastating fire. Not only will people all over the earth be burned, but even
those in the first dhyanaheavens will perish.

Fire burns the first dhyana. All over the
world the seas will be burned dry. Uncountable people will die in the fire. Even
so, some people will escape the destruction. When the lifespan of the remaining
people reaches about twenty years, there will be a disaster of water. Water
drowns the second dhyana. When the lifespan
of those who are left is just about twenty, there will be a disaster of wind, which will blow through the third dhyana heaven. Wind
rips up the third dhyana.

So it is said,

In the six desire heavens
are the five signs of decay;
Above, in the third dhyanaheavens
is the disaster of wind.
Even if people cultivate and reach
the heaven of neither thought nor non-thought,
It's not as good as going to the Western Land,
and coming back again.

The six desire heavens are the ones we see
overhead; the Heaven of the Four Kings, the Trayastrimsha Heaven, the Suyama
Heaven, the Tushita Heaven, the Heaven of the Bliss from Transformations, and
the Heaven of the Comfort Gained from Others' Transformations. Beings in these
six desire heavens have to endure the five
signs of decay:

1) Their floral crowns wilt. The heavenly beings are crowned with flowers. They
do not make the crowns; the crowns naturally appear to adorn them. But when the
gods are about to die, what do you suppose happens? The flowers fall. Before a
heavenly being's time comes to die, the flowers remain ever-fresh.

2) Their clothes get dirty. The clothes worn by the gods and goddesses don't
need to be washed, unlike the clothes we people wear, which must be washed after
being worn just once. The heavenly beings' clothes don't get dirty until the
five signs of decay appear. This is the result of karmic retribution. The filth
on their clothing comes from their karmic obstacles. Why do some people smell
very bad when they are on the verge of death? Some smell bad even before it's
time to die. That is also a result of karma.

3) Their armpits sweat. The gods don't perspire like people do. They never
sweat, until they are on the verge of dying.

4) Their entire bodies smell. Ordinarily, the heavenly beings emit a sweet
fragrance from their person. When they are about to die, however, they smell
bad. Usually, though, they don't have to douse themselves with perfume, because
they naturally smell good.

5) They cannot sit still. They can no longer sit like they used to. They keep
restlessly getting up and down as if they were crazy. In the midst of this
flurry, they get confused, and as soon as that happens, they die. They fall into
this world.

Once the three disasters are over, people's
lifespan will decrease to ten years. At that time, people will only reach the
height of the dogs of the present day. They will be completely corrupt and act
just like horses, cows, and pigs, in that they will have desire from the moment
they are born. They will also be able to speak as soon as they are born. They
will be capable of sexual desire because,

People's nature flows into
emotion;
Emotion flows into desire.

By that time, people will have totally abandoned themselves to desire. They will
marry by the time they are two or three years
old, have children, and die by the time they are ten years old. But when the
lifespan of people reaches only ten years, an increase will begin. The
proportions will be the same: in every century a year will be added to their
lifespan and an inch to their average height. It will increase until the
lifespan of people reaches 84,000 years. Then a decrease will begin again, and
when the lifespan has decreased to 80,000 years, Maitreya Bodhisattva will come
into the world and accomplish Buddhahood. Some religious sects say that Maitreya
Bodhisattva has already come to become a Buddha. These are words spoken in a
dream; basically, those people don't understand the Buddha-dharma. Maitreya's
coming will happen in a certain way; you can't just explain it any old way.

When Maitreya Bodhisattva was cultivating the Way, he was always seeking
advantage from situations, "climbing on conditions" as it's said in Chinese. He
was always hobnobbing and fraternizing with the rich. So although he and
Shakyamuni Buddha cultivated together at the same time, Maitreya Bodhisattva
didn't become a Buddha as quickly as Shakyamuni Buddha did, since he was always
climbing on conditions. I certainly believe that he liked to take advantage of
situations; how else would he have gotten so fat? He's fat because he liked to
eat good food; he didn't get that way just by laughing.

He arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha, "I
remember when, as many kalpas ago as there are fine motes of dust, a Buddha
named Light of Sun, Moon, and Lamp appeared in the world. Under that Buddha I
left the home life; yet I was deeply committed to worldly fame and liked to
fraternize with people of good family. I was intent on getting a good
reputation." "People of good family" refers to large families with lots of
money. Every country has its wealthy people, and wherever Maitreya Bodhisattva
went he paid no attention to the poor, but went to the homes of the rich to
exchange greetings and flatter them. Everywhere he went he also advertised for
himself. He was phony this way when he first started to cultivate.

But you shouldn't think of Maitreya Bodhisattva as someone who climbs on
conditions, because he eventually stopped doing it. The next passage refers to
the time when he had already stopped.